Olympics: Shiffrin wins gold in slalom

Saturday

Feb 22, 2014 at 2:00 AM

KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia — Normally so composed, so in control, so not-very-teenlike on and off the slopes, Mikaela Shiffrin suddenly found herself in an awkward position halfway through the second leg of the Olympic slalom.

The Associated Press

KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia — Normally so composed, so in control, so not-very-teenlike on and off the slopes, Mikaela Shiffrin suddenly found herself in an awkward position halfway through the second leg of the Olympic slalom.

Guilty, perhaps, of charging too hard as she swayed this way and that around the course's gates, Shiffrin briefly lost her balance. Her left ski rose too far off the snow. Her chance at a gold medal in the event she's dominated for two years was about to slip away.

"Yeah, that was pretty terrifying for me. There I was, I'm like, 'Grrreat. I'm just going to go win my first medal.' And then, in the middle of the run, I'm like, 'Guess not,'" the American said with a laugh Friday night. "So like, 'No. Don't do that. Do not give up. You see this through.' My whole goal was to just keep my skis moving."

Somehow, she did just that. Shiffrin stayed upright, gathered herself and, although giving away precious time there, was able to make a big lead from the first leg stand up. She won by more than a half-second to become, at 18, the youngest slalom champion in Olympic history.

"It's going to be something that I chalk up as one of my favorite experiences for the rest of my life," Shiffrin said. "But my life's not over yet."

No, Mikaela, it's not. It's only just beginning. Think about this for a moment: How might a typical American teenager have spent her Friday night? At the mall with friends? At a movie? At a high school dance?

Shiffrin spent hers outracing the best skiers in the world down a floodlit Rosa w course, knocking aside gates with her neon-yellow pole handles.

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